


Danganronpa: 72 Hours (Side A)

by xxaeris



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Fanganronpa, Female Protagonist, Other, actually right down to the two female protagonists, alright first some content warnings, and one being the younger sister of a male character in the first thing, but they are gonna be central later so i wanna warn you now, cw abuse, cw abusive relationship, cw manipulation, cw vehicle crash, i'll add more content warnings as necessary, it's more of an Ultra Despair Girls style story, one being a sour asshole who hates nearly everyone she comes into contact with, the first 3 don't have anything in the prologue or first chapter, wait is it a fangan?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:13:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21571924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxaeris/pseuds/xxaeris
Summary: One year after the killing game at Kibou-Rehabiri Institute, two of the survivors, Kokuro Shiroko and Satoko Uesaka, are sent into unknown territory in order to find Hisoka Ongakundo. What they find instead is repressed memories from even long before their killing game...Critique of this work is requested!
Kudos: 5





	1. Prologue: The Start of a New Nightmare for Two

**Author's Note:**

> So as stated in the tags, this story contains themes of abuse, abusive relationships, manipulation, and I am going to be trying to display these things realistically. They aren't prominent in this chapter, but will be prominent from around Chapter 2 onwards.
> 
> This will be significantly darker than Danganronpa S in terms of themes that may be triggering to the audience, so if these are things that are triggering to you, I don't recommend reading this, or at least be aware that these are major themes in this work. 
> 
> As for what "Side A" means, there's two events that take place in the same 72 hours - though I will finish Side A before starting Side B.

I ran my hands through my hair, feeling tiny flecks of black hair stick to them. Below me laid the rest, each lock at least a foot long, maybe two. 

It's been a long time bloody coming.

I kept putting it off, kept creating excuses to not do it. I had a mission and didn't have time. I wanted to keep it long. 

I couldn’t tell them the truth, even as my heart screamed that it was time to tell them, over and over again. My heart kept going to war with my mind, and the result was me telling a bunch of slimy lies. To people I actually _trusted._

My stomach lurched and turned itself inside out just _thinking_ about it. 

I still can’t tell anyone the truth. I still can’t let them know, no matter how badly I think they should.

But today - a year to the day that Kadiri and Dai were executed - I stood with my hair in piles around me. Where hair had once brushed against my hip, now not a single strand’s end passed below my shoulders - or some other poetic crap to say “my hair is about neck-length”. 

More than that, though, I finally felt like I saw the real **me** in the mirror. Not some puppet zombie that I piloted around, ironic choice of words aside. It wasn’t the same as coming clean about the shit I’d been through, but it was at least a step towards continued trust of the people who treated me like an actual human being.

I won’t bloody lie, either. It felt a lot better on my head and neck to not have all that fucking hair weighing it down.

  
  


I saw the door behind me crack in the reflection, a soft hand reaching around and pushing the door open all the way.

“Um- Sorry to bother you, Kokuro,” I heard a voice behind me say. I shifted my gaze away from the mirror and towards the voice in the real world.

“You aren't really bothering me,” I said. In front of me stood Satoko Uesaka, another of the few survivors of that bloody wretched event last year.

“I know, but... Hm. U-Um, I'll help you clean up,” Satoko crouched down and started collecting hair off the floor.

“It's my hair, I should clean up,” I said, quickly gathering up as much hair as I could in a pile away from her.

“You don't have to clean it up by yourself,” Satoko frowned at me as I tossed the hair into a bin. 

“I know, but I made the bloody mess,” I said. “You didn't ask me to cut my hair off.” 

“... What made you finally do it?”

“If I'm being honest, the date helped. An arbitrary one, seemed just vaguely symbolic enough that it finally pushed me, but still.” I stood back up. “I'm guessing that you didn't decide to talk to me to tell me 'nice haircut’.”

“No, you’re- you're right,” Satoko stood back up as well, coughing slightly. “Mae- Ms. Akemi wanted to see us, but... honestly, I feel like we should fix your hair.”

I rolled my eyes. “Maemi was our classmate, I'm sure neither her nor Makoto care about formal titles. And what do you mean by ‘fix it’?”

“Ms. Kubayoshi cares...”

“Maybe, but she couldn't hurt a fly. Anyway, what do you mean by ‘fix my hair’?” 

Satoko picked up the scissors I’d left on the table next to the mirror and gestured to a chair. “Exactly what- what I said. Fix your hair.”

“I’m still not following.” 

“Well- no, no, no offense, but- um, your hair looks - um, your hair’s very- messy? Um... uneven?” 

I huffed. “Well, maybe I like it this way.” 

Satoko gave me an incredulous look. I threw up my arms and dragged the chair Satoko pointed out to the mirror. 

“It- uh, it shouldn’t take too long,” Satoko said, as I folded my arms and slouched in the chair - at least until Satoko put her hands under my armpits and sat me back upright. 

There’s definitely something different about someone _else_ cutting your hair rather than doing it yourself. It felt... nostalgic, somehow. Brought me back to when my parents took me into a hairdresser as a kid, even if Satoko was by no means a qualified hairdresser. The clip of scissors right next to your ear is just _different_ when someone else is holding the scissors. When it was Satoko, it was good, honestly. 

"Sorry, it- it probably won't be that much neater when I do it, either."

"Fine by me, it's honestly better. Where'd you learn to cut hair, anyway?"

Satoko looked away from me. "... My brother."

"Shit- sorry," I looked to the side for a moment to come up with some topic to change the subject to, but Satoko gently grabbed my head and tilted it back to where it was.

"It's not your fault. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault either. Um, any idea what Maemi wants?"

Satoko shook her head. "Just that it was urgent. Um- I think - I think I'm done."

I stood up and dusted the new flecks of hair off my coat by taking it off and shaking it like I was a pro wrestler and the coat murdered my parents. "Alright, let's go see Maemi."

“Ms. Ake-”

“I've made up my bloody mind, thanks.”

  
  
  


I followed Satoko down two hallways and up a flight of stairs, past a wall decal of a stick man reaching towards the sun with “HUMANITY’S FUTURE” written below it, before finally stopping in front of an office room. Plastered on the door was a sign that read: 

**[MAEMI AKEMI - BRANCH 15 HEAD]**

I pushed the door open, letting Satoko in first before heading in myself. Maemi sat at her desk, a wide smile on her face as her fingers tapped at her wrist stump. However, her eyebrows were more upturned than usual. 

“Hey! Sorry for calling you in on such short notice,” Maemi said, her voice so fast and high-pitched that I could only just make out what she was saying. “I like your hair, Kokuro!”

“The less people that comment on it, the better,” I quickly replied. “It's not a big deal.” I prayed Maemi wouldn’t notice me biting my lip.

Maemi took a deep breath and slowed down. “Sorry, I'll drop it. I... unfortunately, have a big problem on my hands.”

“What is it?” Satoko asked.

“We've had a mission severely compromised. We sent Hiroshi and Hisoka out on a rescue and support mission for a group of survivors that had to fight off a group of zombies.” Maemi leaned forward onto the desk and gestured in front of her. “Um, you can take a seat if you want.”

I remained standing, though I rested my weight on the back of the chair. Satoko, on the other hand, sat in the other chair.

“The mission was just to provide aid, but Hisoka and Hiroshi got attacked by a rival faction. Well, they're more like a gang, since-”

“Stay on track,” I said.

“Right, sorry. Hiroshi managed to escape, but unfortunately... Hisoka got captured. This fact-gan-mh- **group** , is calling themselves 'The Paladins’. One of their representatives already contacted me and put out ransom terms for Hisoka. We've got exactly three days to meet their terms - dismantle the entire 15th Branch and surrender all its resources to them - or they'll...” 

I could see cold sweat forming on Maemi's forehead, and her jaw starting to tremble.

“I’m guessing you want us two to go rescue him. That said, isn't this something that, you know, properly trained operatives should be doing?” I asked, trying to take Maemi's mind off those thoughts.

“I want to send those out, but we don't have many to spare right now. We've been working double time already since several missions from other branches have also been compromised, and you're the only operatives I have left.” Maemi clenched her fist. “I... I want to go out there and get him back myself, but Makoto won't let me.”

“Why not?”

“Well, kind of understandable reasons; my left hand is missing, and I refused a prosthetic one. Our protocol says it might make me a liability in the field.”

“Um... Wh-why didn't you want a prosthetic...?” Satoko raised her hand.

Maemi was silent for a moment, staring at her wrist. I saw her jaw shake and her eyes water, before she finally gave her answer.

“I... prefer to go without. It's a reminder of my mistakes.” She looked away from her wrist, back up at us, and smiled with still-watery eyes. “At least for me, anyway. I know Kenji couldn't be happier with his prosthetics.”

“Couldn't you get them made for the mission?” I asked.

“I asked that. I'd rather Hisoka be safe than dig my heels into my sentiments. But they said it would take at least two weeks, and-”

“We've only got three days,” I finished her sentence.

“So can you do this? I know it's not in your field, but Kubayoshi won't listen to me when I ask to borrow agents from another branch.”

“Huh? Why?” I asked. 

“Dunno. I asked her the same thing, and she said that the other branches are spread too thinly as well. But that seems like nonsense. Mizuki’s branch has been idle for several days, but Kubayoshi wants her branch to stay on standby in Towa City,” Maemi answered. “I’ve talked to Naegi about it as well, and he did try to convince Kubayoshi to spare some of Mizuki’s agents. Mizuki agreed, too, but... somehow, three out of four isn’t enough to override Kubayoshi’s order.” 

Maemi looked back to us. “I understand if you can’t do it, but... it means we’ll have to give in to The Paladins’ demands.” 

Satoko placed her hand on the desk. “I... I don’t think we’re the best for the job, but i-if you need us to rescue Hisoka, then... we’ll do it. O-or at least, I’ll do it.” 

Satoko and Maemi looked to me expectantly, brown and pink eyes begging for my help. 

My gut was telling me that something was going to go horribly, **horribly** wrong over the next three days. But the way they were looking at me, their eyes full of hope with that twinge of despair... 

I couldn’t let that despair manifest. 

“ _We’ll_ do it. You were right the first time,” I said, placing a hand on Satoko’s shoulder with a smile. She recoiled a little, and I quickly realised my mistake and lifted my hand. 

Maemi’s face lit up with joy immediately, and she bolted out of her chair so fast it crashed to the floor with a loud thud. Her arms quickly wrapped themselves around my shoulders tightly, squeezing her cheek against mine. 

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!! Oh gosh, thank you!” 

“Oi, oi! Calm down, Maemi! I agreed to get him back, not officiate your bloody wedding!” I protested. I heard Satoko giggle a little, and out of habit shot her a glare. As Satoko's expression shifted to one of shame, mine did as well.

Maemi let me go, resting her hand and wrist on my shoulders, before looking towards Satoko. 

“Thank you too, Satoko! I'll get what we know about the Paladins ready as soon as possible and send you out. I can tell you right now that their base is an abandoned carnival, of all places.”

I snorted.

“Why would someone base themselves in a _carnival_?” Satoko said, taking the words right out of my mouth.

“Well, it's like my right hand- well, only hand- when I'm lonely, bored, and horny.”

“... What?” I asked.

“It beats the fuck out of me.”

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit I laughed at that.

  
  


About twenty minutes later, Satoko and I were sitting inside a helicopter. Across from us were three more agents - all Maemi could spare - and inside the cockpit was the pilot, waiting for orders to take off.

I had looked through the file of what was known about The Paladins - which was disappointingly bloody little. Maemi already told us where they were based, and the only agents they knew of within their ranks were traitors of Humanity's Future. Apparently they didn't even know who sent out the ransom; the person who had sent it out had worn a mask and distorted their voice. 

So not only were we expected to find and rescue Hisoka in three days, we were probably also going to have to do scouting work on who the hell these bozos were. What bloody joy.

I looked at Satoko. She tugged at her mask and looked back at me.

“D-Did you find out anything from the file...?” she asked.

“Not much we didn't already know,” I replied. “One thing that got my attention, though, is that-” the helicopter began takeoff mid-sentence, “-the only members that we know of have been traitors of Humanity's Future.”

“What?” Satoko replied.

“I know, how do you know so little about the organisation who just-”

“N-No, I didn't hear you,” Satoko said.

“Oh for-” I stopped myself and handed the file to her gently. “Here, it's probably better if you read it.”

Satoko gingerly took the file and buried her head in it, as I turned to the agents. “So, who's in charge here?”

“We will remain in contact with Ms. Akemi throughout the mission, so no hierarchy of order really needs to be established,” the one furthest from my left said.

I frowned. “Are you telling me nobody on the mission is in charge?”

“Ms. Akemi is-”

“Maemi isn't bloody with us, is she? Ugh, we have nobody in charge. Bloody brilliant.”

“Ms. Shiroko, we were warned that you could be difficult to work with-”

“And?”

“We ask that you calm the fuck down and place your goddamn faith in Ms. Akemi's judgement,” said the agent in the middle.

The agent on the right tossed a phone at me, which I just barely caught. “Does this ease your mind at all? You’ll be the one in direct contact with Ms. Akemi the whole time.” 

I sighed, shoving the phone into my coat pocket. “Fine, fine. We’ll play it your-” 

The helicopter lurched in its position suddenly, and I clung onto my seat, glancing at the other agents. 

“What- what was that?!” Satoko asked. 

“We shouldn’t have-” The leftmost agent said, and my gaze fell on the cockpit - and at our pilot, silently laughing to herself. 

“Ma’am? Be a bit more careful. You better have remembered some funny meme from the old worl-” 

The pilot suddenly started laughing erratically, drowning out even the helicopter blades. 

The helicopter lurched forward again, and I looked out the window to see the ground rushing up towards us. 

“Hey! What the bloody hell are you doing, you bitch?” I yelled. 

When I got no response beyond more laughing, I looked towards the agents - one of them had stood up and was trying to wrestle control from this fuckhead of a pilot, and the other two seemed to be getting ready to jump the helicopter. 

“What the hell’s going-” 

“Something’s gone wrong!” one of the agents declared. 

_No shit!_ We’re spiralling towards the fucking earth in a two-tonne death machine thanks to some fucking pilot who thinks killing six people is funny!

Satoko clutched onto my shoulders, and I could see the ground rushing towards us - right in the middle of a fucking street. I let go of the seat and clutched onto Satoko. If I was gonna die, I wasn’t going to do it clutching to some cold hard metal.

The sound of crumpling metal filled my ears, and then shock took over. 

  
  


...

...

...

I had no bloody idea when I came to, but I was surrounded by the burning remnants of what used to be our ticket in and out. The helicopter was halfway indistinguishable from a crushed can of soda, and there was no sign of the dickhead pilot or any of the other agents. 

None of the other agents except Satoko. 

“What the fuck?” I yelled. “What is this, the start to a generic first-person shooter?!” 

When Satoko didn’t even look up or move her head from where she was on the ground, I felt concern hit me like a shotgun shell. The helicopter was starting to look more like a hell-icopter, and I needed to get us out of here. 

I grabbed under her shoulders and pulled her away as best I could, draping her arm over my shoulders and stumbling into the first open building I could find. 

As soon as I closed the door, a loud explosion muffled through the door, the force breaking the windows - and signalling a sigh of relief that the door itself was made of some sturdy wood.

I took a deep breath and tried to recap the situation - the pilot crashed the helicopter for some unknown fucking reason, and I couldn’t find the other agents sent with us. So things were off to a _great_ start - just me and Satoko were accounted for, and...

Feeling my heart drop in my chest, I put my fingers up to Satoko’s neck, desperately hoping to find a pulse. I thankfully found it quickly - and found her heart beating quickly as well. 

I held her head in my arms and lap, and hoped that she’d wake up soon...


	2. Chapter 1: Journey Through a Long-Gone Time

I woke up in someone else’s arms – Kokuro’s, after feeling something touch my neck. I tumbled out of her arms, propping myself up onto the floor and looking around where we were.

“Oh, good, you’re awake again,” Kokuro said, and I frowned a little.

“What happened…?” I asked.

“Helicopter crashed, everyone else I’m pretty sure is dead, the helicopter exploded, and this bad boy saved both our bloody lives.” Kokuro slapped the large oak door for emphasis.

“You- you sound really unconcerned about all that…”

“I’m trying to avoid letting shock set in.”

“Anyways… what- what do we do about that?”

“Think, think-“ Kokuro snapped her fingers and scrambled for her pocket, producing the phone she was given earlier a moment later. “We’ll tell Maemi what happened, and she can extract us.”

“But what about Hiso-“

“We’re gonna need a better game plan than just phoning in every hour to tell her what happened, anyway,” Kokuro said, scrolling through the phone for a moment before turning on speaker and brandishing it in front of us both.

The phone rang for a few moments, and then for a few moments more than I expected. I looked up at Kokuro, and saw my concern mirrored on her face. Had the phone been damaged? But that didn’t sound right-

“Hello? Please tell me you’ve got good news, Makanori,” Maemi’s voice said on the other end of the line, barely above a whimper.

“… I’m sorry, it’s Kokuro and Satoko, and we had an issue – severe issue. The pilot went into a laughing fit in the cockpit and crashed the helicopter. We’re the only survivors. We need evac,” Kokuro explained.

“I- I’m really sorry, I can’t provide any evac. We-“

“What?! We might be in serious danger!”

“I know! It’s not that I don’t want to, I literally can’t. There’s- it’s like Kadiri’s game, but worse…”

“What?” I asked.

“Deep breath, then explain,” Kokuro added.

While Maemi’s breaths on the other end of the line were deep, they weren’t the kinds of deep breaths that would calm someone down. They were rushed.

“Something- something happened. We got knocked out shortly after you left. Somebody- somebody strapped a wristwatch to everyone’s wrist and said we’ll need to pass their challenges to leave – they said not everyone will pass- people are gonna die – he did die - and it’s gonna be my fault-“

“Maemi- it won’t be your fault. Just breathe deeply – and slowly, this time.”

“I- I really want to evac you back here, but-“

Kokuro sighed. “I know. Just try to remain calm, or everyone is going to die. I don’t know what’s going on there, but I know you’ve gotten people through this bloody shit before. Both me and Satoko are proof of that. Hiroshi and Kenji are there too, right?”

“Y-Yeah – just as trapped as I am, though…”

“Then they know you’re capable of this – and they’re capable of helping everyone else out, too.”

“Um- we’ll find Hisoka, I promise,” I added hesitantly.

“Thank you… I have one thing that Kyouko learned after you left. We managed to unscramble the voice of the person who sent out the demands – though it’s not much without a databank to compare it to, we determined that it belongs to a woman, probably around our age, maybe just a little older?”

“That’s not much, but I guess it’s still something. Thank you,” Kokuro said.

“Alright, I-“ The phone line suddenly went dead, and I felt fear seize my heart.

“Maemi?!” I called out.

Kokuro dialled the number again. But this time, we were immediately met with a voice neither of us recognised.

“Do not call again. The Triage of New Despair will not tolerate these attempts to contact Humanity’s Future. Failure to comply will result in your demise.”

“What the fuck is the Triage of New Despair? Who the fuck is this and what have you done with Maemi?!”

“That is no concern of yours. Maemi is alive for now. Whether she’ll stay alive, however, is up to her. Let’s hope her faith in you two holds true.”

The phone went dead again, and Kokuro slumped to the floor.

“… Kokuro?” I asked.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” Kokuro bashed her fist against the floor. “We’re stuck out here, people are dead, and both Hisoka and Maemi are in fucking trouble!” She whipped her head around to face me. “What are the chances these things are related?”

“Um… pretty- pretty high, I’d say…” I replied. “But we’re looking for The Paladins—”

“The Paladins and The Triage of New Despair might be the same bloody organisation. They used their resources to kidnap Hisoka and strain Humanity’s Future so that they could separate the survivors of Kadiri’s killing game!”

“… That does make sense, but why would they do that?”

“I- I haven’t gotten to the why yet, but- I mean, what else could it be?”

“I- um, I think we should focus on finding Hisoka right now. If- if they are the same organisation, we’ll probably learn more once we get to the carnival grounds,” I said. “And- and, I- I’m worried about Maemi, but… I don’t know if we can- we can do anything for her now.”

Kokuro sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I guess we’ll trust she’ll be able to handle it. But how the hell are we gonna get there from here?”

“Um – does this place have a rooftop?” I said, taking a good look around for the first time since we arrived. There were various artefacts from throughout Japan’s history here – swords, armour, bowls, artwork, even sculptures – we were probably inside of a museum.

“Beats me. It has stairs, at least.” Kokuro started heading up those stairs. “C’mon, we’ll need to be quick if we’re gonna find Hisoka and get back to Maemi.”

I nodded, following Kokuro up the stairs, gripping to the railing to keep up with her pace.

“Um, uh, do you still- um, practice acrobatics?” I asked.

“Yep. I never really stopped. Besides, not like the apocalypse isn’t an environment that would be good for those bloody skills.” Kokuro shot a smile over her shoulder at me.

“Right… I was just checking. It might come in handy if you need to climb out the window for a vantage point,” I said.

“Yeah, obviously,” Kokuro turned her head about as she reached the top of the staircase. “Would it kill this place to have a map?”

“Or- or an elevator…” I added. I thought I heard something move behind us, but when I whipped my head around, everything was exactly where it had been.

“No, no, no, no. That’d make everything easier, but chances are the elevator’s out by this point,” Kokuro started heading down the left hallway, coming through into another exhibition. As we passed, I saw various canopic jar and sarcophagus replicas, alongside a mummy replica.

“You think the way to the rooftop will be through the Egypt exhibit?”

“No, I just have no bloody idea where we’re going.”

I heard another clunk behind us, and both Kokuro and I turned our heads to try and face it. Something did seem different this time – I wasn’t sure exactly how. But it almost seemed like one of the mummies was a little closer than it had been.

I bit my lip and turned to Kokuro. “Is it just me or is that- is that mummy closer to where we are now than it was before?”

Kokuro shrugged, turning back around to keep moving forward. “I ‘unno. Probably not. If there was someone here, they’d have come charging for the bloody door when that explosion happened.”

Another clunk sounded out behind us. Looking back this time, I was certain the mummy was moving.

“Kokuro, it- it’s definitely moving,” I said, pointing back towards the mummy.

“… Okay, yeah, you’re probably right. A mummy might be a Supernatural, right?”

“Um… I don’t think so- at least not here. Egypt’s fairly far away.”

“Yeah but there was that card game anime a few years back—”

Another clunk cut Kokuro off, and we both noticed it moving towards us this time.

“… Are mummies usually made of metal?” Kokuro asked.

“They’re preserved dead pe-“ I began, before the mummy suddenly charged us both.

“Shit- get back!” Kokuro shouted, putting herself between me and the mummy. It barrelled straight into her, knocking me to the side as it shoved her against a wall. She kicked at the mummy a couple of times as it lifted her into the air and against the wall, its hands around her throat.

I held my breath as I glanced around the room for something – anything – I could use to pry it off her. The only thing that was within reach was a large wooden mallet.

It would have to do – hopefully.

I grabbed the mallet and smacked the mummy in the side of the head with it. A loud ‘thunk’ sounded out as it let go of Kokuro’s neck, as it slid to the floor and stopped moving.

Kokuro fell to the ground and started breathing heavily, clutching at her throat. I quickly dropped down next to her, but I felt like touching her was a bad idea.

“Are- are you alright?” I stammered out.

“I was just choked by some machine. Of course not,” Kokuro said, her voice somewhat strained. She took another couple of deep breaths, before standing back up.

“Are you alright to keep going?”

“Got no bloody choice.”

I nodded sadly, getting back to my own feet. “Alright, let’s- let’s see if we can- we can find a map.”

“Found one,” Kokuro said, already standing at a box full of brochures.

“How- how is that still intact?” I stood next to Kokuro, looking over the brochure she’d picked up. Sure enough, it had the layout of the museum on it.

“… Okay, so we keep going forward along here and we’ll find the stairwell. We can get up to the 4th floor from there, and then the rooftop entrance is here,” Kokuro said, pointing along the map for emphasis.

“Alright… should be- should be easy enough.” I looked back at the machine, and at the mallet in my hand.

“… Yeah. If there’s one hostile mummy in here, there’s bound to be a bunch more, and I’m not too keen on being undead again.”

“I don’t think a robot mummy would make you undead again…”

“Or regular dead, for that matter. Let’s just keep going. And keep that mallet with you, it might be useful.”

We made our way through the rest of the Egyptian exhibit, before finally coming to the stairwell. Kokuro strode up two steps at a time, while I carefully ascended with the mallet clutched tightly in both hands.

“Oh come the _fuck_ on,” I heard Kokuro shout as I arrived at the top of the stairs.

“Huh?” I asked, before noticing the source of her frustration – the stairs from the third floor to the fourth were completely blocked off with a wrought iron gate.

“Shit, we’re going to have to find a key for this, aren’t we,” Kokuro threw her arms up exasperatedly.

“Can’t we find a way to break through or another way up?” I asked.

“Break through? This shit’ll break that mallet and your fingers clean in half before it even bends. But it might actually be easier to find another way up,” Kokuro said, checking the pamphlet.

I looked over Kokuro’s shoulder to see if there was another way. There was the elevator that was down the hallway, through a wax exhibit, and to the left.

“What about that?” I asked.

“I told you, the elevator’s probably out,” Kokuro said.

“Yes- the- the elevator is probably out, but- but it still might be possible to get up using it. If- if we climb up the pulley,”

Kokuro’s eyebrows knit together for a moment, before she shrugged. “Worth a shot, I guess. The only other staircase is on the other side of the building, so we’ll go there if this doesn’t work out.”

We started heading down the hallway, and we began in silence. But it was a longer hallway than I expected, and I couldn’t help but be a little curious.

“… Um- I’m sorry for asking, but- before Hope’s Peak, what did you do?” I asked.

“… I was an acrobat. That’s how I got my talent. I worked at a circus that’s now defunct,” Kokuro replied. “And good riddance.”

“Good riddance…? Wasn’t that how you-“

“Got my talent? Between being a nobody in a rural village of Japan and being the Ultimate Acrobat, knowing what I do now, I’d have gladly stayed in that rural village.”

“Why?”

“Hope’s Peak might have been the greatest thing to ever happen to you, but to me it was another bloody punch to the gut.”

“Another?”

Kokuro shook her head. “What about you? What were you like before Hope’s Peak?”

I sunk my head into my shoulders. “… I hated who I was before Hope’s Peak. I hated my parents; I hated my classmates – and the only person I didn’t hate was suffering his own problems. People… people say that we’re becoming more accepting, but it wasn’t at all like that for Korin or me. And… and at least I could vaguely _pretend_ I was heterosexual.”

Kokuro avoided eye contact with me. “I’m sorry.”

“You- you didn’t do anything,” I said, as we finally entered the wax exhibit.

“I know I didn’t,” Kokuro replied. “… You might not believe me, but I have some idea of the pain you went through.”

I opened my mouth to ask Kokuro what she meant, when I heard the sound of wax cracking behind us.

I turned back rapidly, brandishing the hammer as a weapon, as a wax model of a man in samurai armour began moving slowly towards us. The wax had peeled away from the elbow and knee joints, and scattered to the floor as the last of the wax pieces flaked off.

“What the fuck?! Another one?” Kokuro yelled out, looking behind her.

“I’ve got it!” I said back, trying to read the robot’s movements and psyche it out. However, its steel sword gave me pause. The robot took the first strike, and I just barely managed to parry it with the striking end of the mallet, before smashing at its joints as best I could while avoiding its sword strikes. But it barely seemed to be doing much at all, and I wasn’t able to direct any strikes towards its head--

I heard a shattering of pottery and the crumpling of metal, and the samurai suddenly collapsed, revealing Kokuro on the other side, holding the remnants of a pot.

“… Was- was that a historical artefact that you-“

“Would you rather some bloody old pot be intact, or your body?”

I didn’t really have a retort to that.

“Thought so. Let’s keep going,” Kokuro said, turning the ring of shattered pottery in her hand, before just leaving it on the pedestal she took it from and continuing onward.

We finally arrived at the elevator, and the first thing I did was try to call it with the button – the lights were on, so there was still a chance the elevator worked.

While the doors did open, the elevator was jammed between this floor and the floor below us, only showing the top half on the floor we were on.

“Huh. Well, that kind of makes things easier,” Kokuro said.

“How so…?” I asked.

“Easier to climb up onto the elevator’s roof and up the pulley,” Kokuro said, climbing up onto the top of the elevator. “…Huh. The doors on the next floor are open too.”

“They are? That’s- that’s strange,” I said, throwing my mallet up and trying to pull myself up onto the top of the elevator. Kokuro grabbed onto my forearm and helped me up.

“I mean, it is propped open with a steel pole,” Kokuro said, pointing up.

“… Wait – those museum exhibits that attacked us, the- the weird way that the whole thing is set up- Someone- someone else, might be here.”

Kokuro looked at me, looked at the top of the elevator shaft, and then back to me. “… Okay, yeah. I agree. Or at least someone _was_ here-“

“No, definitely here still. Or at least active here. They- were there any security cameras back there?” I asked, as Kokuro began ascending the pulley with relative ease.

“Didn’t notice if there were. We’ll check on the next floor.” Kokuro looked up. “Besides, that pole looks way too lodged in place to come loose so easily.

I pinched the handle of the mallet between my thighs and began climbing up behind Kokuro, somewhat glad that she’d stopped wearing a skirt a while ago. Somewhat glad.

Kokuro made the jump with relative ease, and I managed to come up not long after her. Though dismounting would be difficult, I realised – while I wasn’t a stranger to strength workouts, i.e. carrying heavy sculptures around, I was a stranger to things that would help me with the jump across, even if it was only a metre.

“You good?” Kokuro asked. I looked away from her at something unspecific.

“I… don’t know how to jump across,” I admitted.

“Here, chuck me the mallet first.”

I did as Kokuro asked, clenching tightly with my other hand to the pulley and tossing it over. It landed on the ground beside her.

“Alright, climb up a bit higher, then push off the rope as best you can,” Kokuro said. “Throw your whole body into it.”

“That’s not what you did—” I began, but Kokuro cut me off.

“I’m a trained acrobat. You’re not. Trust me,” Kokuro said. I didn’t have much else of a choice, so I climbed up a little farther, eyes on where I wanted to land.

I leapt off of the pulley as best I could, and for a split second, I was worried I still wouldn’t make it. I didn’t see myself pulling off the jump. But then I felt my hand instinctively grab around something, and I swung through the gap, before landing back-first on the ground. I heard metal clank behind me, and tried to turn my head to see it.

The metal pole was on the ground beside me, and the elevator doors were now shut.

“… Well, shit. I guess we’re not going back that way,” Kokuro said.

I hung my head, staring at the floor. “Sorry.”

Kokuro waved a hand dismissively, tossing my hammer back to me. “We’ll deal with it when we bloody need to.”

I followed Kokuro back through the next floor of the exhibit, keeping my eyes out for any security cameras. I thought my time in the killing game would’ve made me better at spotting them – so either there were no security cameras, or there were, and they were well hidden.

But nothing attacked us this time going down the hallway, at the very least. Not while we went through another exhibit – one on ancient animals before humans ever existed – and thankfully, the stairwell up to the rooftop wasn’t blocked off. Kokuro strode up two steps at a time, while I followed behind her, clutching onto the rail again to keep pace.

“I think I see it,” Kokuro said, as she disappeared out onto the rooftop. “To the… I dunno, that way of the museum. You see it?”

I came up next to her, and I could make out the faint glowing lights, colourful tents, and a moving Ferris wheel that, with any luck, was the carnival we were after.

“Yeah- yeah, I do. Now, how do we—” I began, before a large metal THUNK behind us sounded out.

“What the fuck is it no—” Kokuro asked, turning around, before her head slowly panned up towards a large… mech?

My eyes fell on the person standing in front of it. He was easily a head taller than either of us.

“… You are representatives of Humanity’s Future, right?” He asked.

I looked towards Kokuro, who immediately stepped forth.

“Yeah, we are. What’s your deal?”

“Has Akemi agreed to dismantle the—”

“No. Why the bloody hell would she?”

“Then you are here on infiltration for her. I can’t let you do that.”

“And who’s gonna stop me?” Kokuro took another step forward, and I hesitantly grabbed her wrist.

“He- he does have that thing…” I said.

“So? He’s not in i—” Kokuro was cut off by a jump, as the man simply… jumped into the mech’s cockpit. The cockpit wasn’t even particularly low to the ground. “… Never mind. Let’s run.”

Kokuro turned back towards the staircase, and I followed suit, but we were quickly stopped by a metal cover sliding over the steps, creating a flat surface where the stairs had been.

“Oh, motherfu—” I just barely stopped myself, as we both turned back to the mech, just as a fist came crashing down between us both.

I jumped to the right and heard a scream of frustrated surprise from Kokuro on the other side of the fist, as it lifted back up into the air.

I grabbed onto my mallet and charged at the mech, preparing to swing, only to be met with solid metal and some grippy surface, which wrapped around my body. I felt my feet leave the ground, and any frustration that I felt before was replaced with fear.

“Oi! Drop her, you cunt!” I heard Kokuro yell out, and I dropped the mallet in my hand, focusing on just trying to get out of the mech’s grip. I couldn’t find an opening, however – its grip on me was tight.

I took a good look at the mech – it was about two storeys tall, which begged the question of how it even got up there- well, it would, in a less intense time where I wasn’t at risk of being flung off the building at high speeds or having my ribs and hips crushed. But… its balance also looked pretty bad. It had sturdy shoes, but any amount of outside tipping would probably cause it to fall over. And with its build, it would need external help to get back up.

I hurled my body as best I could to the right, but I couldn’t really feel myself having any impact whatsoever on its balance. Thankfully, my arms were still free, so I took my mask off and turned to Kokuro.

“You- you need to knock it off balance!” I shouted.

“Wait, you have braces?” Kokuro returned, dodging another slam into the floor with a graceful flip backwards.

Without the mask, the incredulous and horrified angry expression I have her must’ve been obvious, but she covered her eyes from the mech driver’s point of view and gave me a wink, and I saw her mouth, “heard you, let’s hope he didn’t”.

I put my mask back on and kept trying to climb out of its grip or knock it off balance. I wasn’t going to die in some oversized metal hand.

“You heard- you heard her, drop me!” I yelled out. This time, we must’ve gotten through – because he immediately started walking towards the edge of the building.

However, he hadn’t taken more than a couple of steps before I felt the mech lurch forward with a grunt from Kokuro, and I did my best to do the same.

The three of us all moving the mech forward at once finally tipped it off balance, and it careened towards the ground. I felt a bash to my side as the hand opened up, knocking me halfway across the rooftop – but thankfully, not off it.

I pulled myself to my feet and was immediately met with Kokuro almost crashing into me.

“Jesus fuck – are you okay?! That thing didn’t crush your ribs or anything, right?”

“Yeah- yeah, I’m fine,” I replied. “Are you okay?”

“I wasn’t the one grabbed by a giant fucking robot!” Kokuro said. “Speaking of, the pilot. We need to pull him out for questioning.”

I nodded, striding back over to the mech and peeking into the cockpit. The man inside was conscious, but unable to get out.

Kokuro handed me my mallet, and I smashed the glass window of the cockpit. The man crawled his way out – but before he was even halfway out, Kokuro put him in a headlock.

“Alright, who the bloody hell sent you, and why’d you attack us with a mech?!” Kokuro immediately yelled.

“Kokuro – we should start small,” I said. “Who are you?”

“… My name is Ryou Motokama.” Ryou tried to force himself to his feet, but I lifted my hammer, which convinced him to kneel back down.

“Cute. You’re one of our ditchers. Now who sent you?” Kokuro asked.

“The leader of the Paladins, of course,” Ryou replied.

“Who would be…?”

“I can’t tell you that,” Ryou said. “But, I do have something I can offer instead. There’s a red-headed boy who wants to speak with representatives of Humanity’s Future – you, specifically.”

“Red-headed boy… that sounds like Hisoka,” I said, looking towards Kokuro – who didn’t seem so sure.

“Is it Hisoka Ongakundo?” Kokuro asked.

Ryou didn’t reply. He just stared at us.

“Kokuro… we- we know he’s with the Paladins. We know Hisoka is with the Paladins. It- it’ll probably be him, or at the very least, he’ll have to be nearby,” I said.

Kokuro was silent for a moment, before throwing up her hands. “Fine. But we’re tying him up first. I’m not letting him just run free.”

“With what?” Ryou seemed to almost be smirking, but Kokuro followed up with one of her own and pulled a grey ribbon out of her pocket.

“Knew my old school ribbon would come in handy eventually,” she said, as she forced Ryou’s hands behind his back. I decided to hold his forearms in place to help.

“You kept your old school ribbon on you on the off chance that your boss’ boyfriend would be held by a post-apocalyptic organisation and you managed to kidnap one of their workers?” Ryou asked.

“No, I kept my old school ribbon on me on the off chance that my boss’ boyfriend would be kidnapped by a post-apocalyptic organisation and we managed to beat him even though he was in a massive mech,” Kokuro replied. “Now, open the staircase and lead the way.”

“The remote is back in the mech,” Ryou said. I ducked back inside of it, pulling out a small remote and aiming it at the metal sheet. Thankfully, it retreated back into the floor, revealing the staircase once again.

“Great. Anything else we should know?” Kokuro said. “Like how to open the gate on the second floor?”

“The key’s in my coat pocket on the right,” Ryou said. Kokuro went fishing through his pockets, before producing a small silver key.

“There. Not so hard, is it?” Kokuro said, gently nudging Ryou down the stairs. Taking my mallet, I followed the two down.

As we walked through the streets towards the carnival, however, I could see Kokuro tense up. I wasn’t sure why, though… did carnivals give her bad memories?

Maybe – maybe she’d been sick on one of the carnival rides and the ride attendant yelled at her for it. Maybe she’d never been able to win a prize – but that seemed unusual.

Maybe… there was a bad performance she had at one? She was an acrobat, so maybe she performed, and ruined a routine so badly that she felt ashamed to be at a carnival? But that didn’t seem possible. She was an Ultimate once.

I walked ahead a bit, trying to read her face… I could see it look as serious as ever as we walked along, but I could see terror underlying the mask she wore.

“Are you checking her out?” Ryou asked.

“What- what do you mean?” I replied.

“You know. She’s actually not half bad looking,” Ryou said. He was answered with a knee to the thigh from Kokuro.

I slunk back behind her, avoiding looking at either of them. I didn’t want to admit there was any truth to Ryou’s words.

… she probably wouldn’t want someone like me beyond a professional relationship, anyway.


End file.
